TAMING ANXIETY
Obsessing Over the Future
Anxious minds can become preoccupied with the future, testing our tolerance towards possible outcomes. The variability of life provides an endless supply of permutations to consider.
Questions about negative outcomes tend to receive the most attention:
What if I become seriously ill? What if I am unable to provide for my family?
Evolution has trained us to practice ‘what if’ thinking to protect us from possible threats. Our minds constantly scan the virtual horizons they conceive, looking for outcomes they’d rather have us avoid.
Scanning the future for potential threats seems prudent, if done occasionally and transparently. ‘What if’ thinking can become an issue, however, if it becomes an obsession.
Just like a fearful present moment, thoughts about an alarming future can trigger an anxious response.
Anxiety is designed to increase awareness, preparing us to react to a perceived threat. With heightened awareness, there is evidence that memories are more easily formed. [1]
The more intolerable we regard our thoughts about the future, the stronger the anxiety response will be. The more intense the anxiety response…
